Autopsy results show a mother apparently killed her two young daughters before turning the gun on herself inside the family's high-end home, police said Monday. Nina Obukhov, 34, killed her daughters...

It’s about control: A shutdown point to ponder

If any good comes from the government shutdown, it should be this: A greater aversion to placing power in the hands of politicians.

Why is the Obama administration closing even private businesses that operate on federal land and blocking access to open-air memorials? Why does he refuse to accept bills that fund the National Parks Service, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies?

It is not only because the administration wants to use the shutdown to inflict as much pain as possible in the hope that people will become angrier at Republicans. The President is also trying to show how dependent Americans are on the government. He is putting his “you didn’t build that” philosophy into practice. He’ll show us just how dependent we are on Washington by forcing us to do without as many of its services as possible.

But we don’t need to be this dependent on Washington politicians. Mount Vernon, George Washinton’s home, is open. It is run by a private non-profit. NIH clinical trials are halted, but others continue. We have put politicians in charge of so many things that ought not to be controlled by politicians. And then we complain when we become subject to their whims.